The Republican National Committee is leading a lawsuit against New Jersey over a law allowing non-citizens with no state residency to vote in elections.
The state law allows overseas residents to partake in voter registration and voting based on a relative’s last New Jersey address, but the plaintiffs argue that the state exceeded its constitutional authority by extending voting eligibility to people who have never lived in New Jersey or the United States. The state constitution requires voters to have been New Jersey residents for at least 30 days before an election.
The New Jersey Republican Party and Republican candidate Michael McGuire, who is running for the state’s 3rd District, joined the RNC in filing the lawsuit Thursday.
“Democrats are allowing certain people who have never lived in New Jersey to vote in the state’s elections,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said. “The RNC is taking them to court to stop this unconstitutional scheme, protect lawful voters, and secure New Jersey elections.”
Military service members and any overseas U.S. citizens who previously resided in New Jersey are protected under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The federal law, however, does not require states to allow voting by non-citizens who have never established residency there.
The plaintiffs assured the voting rights of military personnel and overseas voters would not be changed because they remain eligible to vote under state and federal law.
The lawsuit asks the Mercer County Superior Court to declare the challenged provisions in the state law unconstitutional, bar New Jersey election officials from registering “never-resident” voters, remove registered non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls, and ensure ballots cast by them are not counted in future elections, among other requests.
The defendants listed in the lawsuit are the New Jersey Department of State, the Division of Elections, Secretary of State Dale Caldwell, and Mercer County Superintendent of Elections Walker Worthy Jr.
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The lawsuit is part of the RNC’s broader strategy to challenge similar voting laws in other states, including Nebraska and Colorado. The party committee cited its victory in a recent North Carolina voting lawsuit.
In that case, a state judge ruled that “never-residents” cannot cast ballots in any future North Carolina election. The RNC and New Jersey Republicans hope they can secure a similar win in their latest election integrity lawsuit.